More Lighting Happiness!

Little things do make a difference to the overall look of a room! In this case replacing the craftsman style, builder grade fixture, with a more stylish option has made quite a difference.

before

after

Though the new fixture arrived a little less fabulous than I had hoped for...

...as I showed in this post, Rub 'n Buff came to the rescue!

Afterwards the installation proved to be simple. I removed the old fixture, attached the new fixture's crossbar to the box...

...and attached the wires with connectors and screwed the ground wire to the crossbar.

{Above photos taken with flash...not very pretty, but gets the job done in the absence of other light!}

Before finishing the installation I turned the powder back on to ensure the fixture worked. For detailed instructions and important safety precautions to be aware of when installing light fixtures, here is an excellent tutorial from The Family Handyman.com.

While this room is essentially done, I did say I'd be attempting to install crown molding here. I'm feeling less than confident...but by announcing, again, that I'm going to try I may get motivated. Note the "may".

The "LOW" Fixture Gets A Makeover!

When I opened the box containing the fixture for the powder bathroom, I had a moment of doubt. It was not the finish I had expected, and something else was off. I didn't realize what until I looked at the photos in the High vs. Low post and saw it was the candle sleeves: gold rather than the white shown online. Oh well, nothing a little Rub 'n Buff and paint can't fix!

Too dark and rustic!

After applying Rub'n Buff to the left side I knew this fixture could be successfully rescued!

And then on to the sleeves. Surprisingly they were not only gold but metal. 

I didn't have any spray paint on hand...

...but after a couple coats of adhesion primer...

and an ivory paint they looked much, much better!

As did the fixture, once completely covered with a layer of Rub 'n Buff. What can't this stuff fix?!

See, don't the sleeves look great now?

The before...

...and after! 

A quick makeover that brings this low fixture into the high realm!

Recall The Post, 'High vs. Low?' Here's What I Picked!

The builder grade light fixture in the powder bath wasn't doing this room any favors. 

The below caught my eye....

{ HIGH }

...but then I was sent a link to this "low version" below.

{ LOW }

Your responses to which you would pick were pretty much divided equally down the middle.
But I ended up selecting the low. Come on...you know I have a strong frugal streak in me!
{I just couldn't spring for an expensive fixture for such a small space}

It arrived and I believe it will look great in the space...once I tweak it a bit. Yes, the finish is slightly off for the room and not exactly what I expected from the image. {Perhaps you do get what you pay for!} But Rub 'n Buff is already fixing that. In addition I need to do something about the "candle covers". The image shows that they are white, but they arrived gold. Hum...not so fabulous. But for a deal, you also know I'm just fine doing a little work!

High vs. Low: Which Would You Pick?

Last Friday I posted this bath was done, for now...

{ HIGH }

...until I decide whether or not to splurge on this Eric Cohler light fixture!

{ LOW }

Then a reader sent me a link to a similar fixture on sale at One King's Lane.

At a fraction of the price, what would you do?

Spring for the High, or Embrace the Low?

Powder Room: Done, For Now!

This was certainly a quick little update. And unfortunately I dove into it before stopping to snap a few before photos! What? Did I momentarily forget I write a blog and must photograph every step of EVERYTHING?

But I did get photos of the first color I painted the room, Charisma. Then came the bathroom boycott, which resulted in my pulling out a leftover can of Quietude from the garage for a quick redo. Fortunately calm returned to the household immediately afterwards.

The Details: Max still has a hard time reaching smaller towels hung from the bar. I often step into the room only to find the hand towels on the floor or soaking wet in the sink. Hopefully the longer bath towel will prevent this from happening for now...or perhaps I'll simply find this bigger towel sopping wet in the sink? (He loves to fill the sink with water and play with his Lego's here, if you're wondering why there is such an issue with wet towels!) We'll see if this tactic works.

Also, I would LOVE to bring in this Eric Cohler fixture. The redo has totaled under $70 to date, so perhaps I'll decide to splurge. The space above the mirror could certainly handle this larger (and fabulous) fixture.

And what's this?

If your house is anything like mine, you probably hear this a lot as well: 

"Mom, there's NO TOILET PAPER!"

The expectation is I'm supposed to drop anything and everything to come running with another roll.

 No more. 

This little beauty was found at Crate & Barrel, on sale for $14.99.

A new soap dispenser...

...and waste basket, from HomeGoods. What a great resource for accessories!

Finally, the wash treatment was just a little messy; I did say it left a few splatters of paint on the ceiling.

Here's the evidence. I've decided not to touch up the paint on the ceiling, or even run the new paint color up to the ceiling in all the spots, because I want motivation to add cove crown molding! This is my favorite style of molding, simple and classic.

I did a little google search and according to ask.com:

"Installing cove molding is not hard at all. Starting at a corner of the room, measure to the next corner and cut the molding to that length. Using a caulk gun and molding adhesive, place two strips of adhesive on the back of the molding. Gently lift the molding into place and press hard. Continue on around the room."

This encourages me I may be able to handle such a project. At some point during the summer I'll be testing this claim!

It's A Wash

After my vibrant paint choice got vetoed by the family, followed by a painting job redo, I decided I could at least have some fun by adding a wash over the new paint color.

I pulled out a can of dark navy paint and poured a bit of it into the wall color, Quietude.

Mixed it together...

...and added water, right from the bathroom faucet.

This is one messy job, let me tell you.

The baseboards were taped (I rarely bother with taping a room, but skipping this step here would spell disaster!) and a drop cloth was laid out.

Dipping a Ralph Lauren "linen" brush into the watery mixture, long sweeps were then brushed up the height of the walls.

While the wash color appears lighter than the walls, once dry it will be a shade darker.

Yep, very very messy indeed! 

The process was continued around the entire room, from the baseboards up to the ceiling. 

(Now I'm really going to have to add crown molding, because there was some splattering going on!)

The final result. Hard to see in these photos, but look closely. There is a beautiful and subtle striae effect which adds a tremendous amount of depth to the walls. In person that is.

Next, I'm on the hunt for a new light fixture...

...because this one could certainly be improved upon.

How about this fabulous Eric Cohler design, the Double Twist Sconce? With this redesign being virtually free to date (refinishing an existing mirror, using paint already on hand and botanical prints that were once my grandmothers) you'd think I'd be ready to splurge here. But I'm going to have to think about it...